Birds of a Feather Flock Together
by Lonelygreydog
Summary: After escaping the lab where they were created, Michael tries to lead his flock to a better life. With seven teens, though, things get a little complicated. Lucifer and Gabriel have a mind of their own, Castiel finds a human named Dean he obsesses over, and to make things worse, the Scientists are still after the seven escaped angels. T for language.
1. Hi, I'm Michael, nice to meet you

_Whoever may lay eyes upon this, know that everything written before you holds more fact than one might believe. As unbelievable as such writings may seem, I hope that I am not wrong in sharing my story—that some soul may take these words to heart and see the injustices in the world, or perhaps see the light each person may hold. The tale before you holds much despair in its core, but it also brings out the underdog, the small heroes who tried in their large hearts to do what they believed is right. Good intentions may be the road to hell, but it also can lead to the sparse of the moment heroes who act first in the name of justice._

My name is Michael; I have no last name and as far as I can tell I was born from a test-tube. What monsters would do such a thing? I can't say so myself; it's a mystery I've been trying to muster an answer to for some time now. These 'scientist' created seven of us; seven genetically modified humans with abnormal abilities. Lucifer, for instance, radiates cold and, as we like to think, the ability to throw volcanic sized temper tantrums. Aside from that, he's the smartest kid out there. Oh, yeah, we're all under the age of eighteen as of now. Where our story begins, though, I'm still sixteen.

It was some time in the year of 2014. I was being lead into the lab by some jackass. I could hear voices throughout the hall, inside of the rooms. So, they had a surplus of scientists today? That wasn't ever good. I tried yanking my hands, which were bond by ever-so-comfortable handcuffs, away from the guard and was met by an electrically charged pole from jackass's buddy. My blood burned for a moment, vision going white, as I staggered from the blow. It seemed there was no good in fighting; I'd have to wait for a moment to present itself.

We continued on the dreadfully long walk as I seemed to be dragged by the cuffs. I hated the guards almost more than the experiments themselves. Their apathetic eyes never gave a second glance to us 'tests'. They almost never spoke a word to us as if we were rabid animals, and if they did talk to us, it was only a taunting mockery of words. They called us bird-brained, threatened to clip our wings. I sighed, half-heartedly trying to pull away. They didn't notice.

I was lead into a small room with a surgical table and an assortment of tools on a tray. I tried not to look at the sharp objects that would soon be used on me, but I couldn't help it. The mixture of fear and chemical smell made my stomach churn. I almost gagged.

Jackass let go of me and left the room, closing the door behind him. Was I alone in here? This was… interesting. I looked around the room, pacing. Ten minutes past before I let myself look at the tray of tools. There was likely a camera somewhere, watching my every move. Was the doctor on lunch break? I sighed, trying to find the hidden camera on the walls, in the corners. I was interrupted when the door slid open. I let all fear leave my face , my body tensed and my posture somehow became impeccable. This was Alistair, I couldn't give him the satisfaction of being weak. "You're late" I said in a mono-tone voice, as if he were the least of my concerns. In all honesty, I was scared out of my mind, but I was the best there was at hiding emotion.

"It appears I am. I do apologize for delaying the fun you were looking forward to." His voice was silky poison. The sickly sweetness of it would let anybody know this guy wasn't right in his head, that he was at every moment plotting something terrible, but thinking the world would be a better place because of it. I'm sorry, but child experimentation is _not_ on the top scientific achievement list of the century.

"I'm afraid I won't accept that apology, Alistair. You've disappointed me too many times" I'm pretty sure my voice was trembling pretty badly because I know my hands couldn't keep still at my side.

"Then I'll just have to make it up to you" He smiled his sadistic smirk, his eyes shimmering with a crazy look. I wanted to scream, to hide, to cry, to attack, anything but just stand there. The tension, the fear, it all built up inside of me. The next hour was one of the most painful sessions I had with him.


	2. We all get 'rescued' by a crazy Red-Head

I woke up to somebody shaking my arm. "Michael" They uttered my name almost un-audible. Don't be seen, don't be heard—the golden rule of the lab. "C'mon, wake up" It was Lucifer. We shared a cell together only because he insisted. Lucifer was the favorite here, and for some reason, he always seemed to get what he wanted, within reason. The scientists favored Lucifer's genetics; he was the easiest to modify.

I blinked the sleep out of my eyes, turning over to face the blonde teen. He was fourteen, though it would only be a couple months before he graduated to the next year. "Luce" It was hard to speak; my mouth felt sticky and my throat was raw from screaming. He gave me a sad smile. I hated when he pitied me, sympathized me, call it what you want—I hated it. I was supposed to be the strong one and I surely didn't need anybody's—especially not Lucifer's—sympathy.

"You look terrible. What did they do to you?" He whispered again, pushing a strand of hair behind my ear. It was an endearing gesture; I shouldn't have pushed his hand away.

I shuddered. "I... Alistair" My voice was hoarse and I could barely speak, but the message was clear. Lucifer made an "O" shape with his mouth as he turned his head for a fleeting moment. He put his hand on my shoulder, rubbing it gently with his thumb.

"You're okay now. I've got you, you hear that?" He murmured in my ear. "Nobody can pull us apart; I don't care how many stupid tests they run on us, we're together." I envied his strength. He was superior to me in every way. His power, his intellect, his way of playing words all put me to shame. I would always wonder why he stuck around me; it never dawned on me that I was his support. I was a big brother to him, his leader in a way.

"Yeah, okay" I croaked. I hated the sound of my voice. It only proved how weak I was. Lucifer wouldn't have screamed, but then again, they always used anesthetics on him. They wouldn't want their prized mutant feeling any discomfort. We sat there for a long time in each other's arms before any of us uttered another word.

"Any news of Cas or Sammy?" Lucifer asked, pulling away from the embrace. Castiel and Samandriel were the youngest, at twelve, and all of us felt it was our responsibility to protect them. They were very much the baby brothers of the freaky-mutant-angel family.

I shook my head. "No, but Gabriel should be watching them. God I hope they're okay" I couldn't put my finger on the last time I had spoken to Gabriel…or Raphael, or Anna, or Samandriel, or Castiel, but I knew it was no less than a week. They mostly kept us separate unless they wanted to take notes on our 'interactions'. We couldn't make much of an escape plan then because of the cameras and Scientists with clipboards. I was glad that the mostly left the youngest alone, though. The monsters at least recognized they were far too young to have all of that bad shit happen to them. I thought about that and realized that they'd never gone easy on me, but then again, I was the first successful hybrid. You'd think that would have gotten me on the favorites list, but it didn't. My DNA was hard to control, hard to change. Sure I had a big pair of wings, but I didn't have abilities like the others.

"They should be fine. I overheard that the government was coming the check this place out soon. They're going to have to hide us if they want to stay running." Lucifer always knew what was going on. Azazel seemed to drag the teen around by a leash.

"So, we're going back in the crates?" I shuddered, but at least my voice was coming back.

"I didn't say that. They'll just likely move us to another facility"

"Oh Joy" He said sarcastically. I stretched out my wings. It wasn't the same color as my hair like most of the other subjects; it was a goldish colored wing with brown and red speckles. They resembled a hawk's wing, maybe because they hadn't gotten as good with their genetic engineering, maybe because they didn't want to bother making them pretty due to the fact that they didn't know if I would work. Oh, Lucifer's wings didn't match his hair either. His were pure white, almost blinding. Well, they would be if they let us bathe here. That was a three times a month—if—occurrence. I looked forward to it just so I could see those beautiful wings.

There was shouting from the hall outside. Both of us tensed, staring at the door in silence. There were loud booming noises, which I soon realized were gun shots. I shared a worried glance with Lucifer. What was going on? He stood up from his metal-slab-called-bed and worked his way to the door, pressing an ear against it. "What do you hear?" I yell-whispered a demand.

He put a finger up to his mouth. I watched in silence as his face contorted it's self into a mixture of emotion, fear, anticipation, anxiety, and most of all courage. Something was going on out there. We were being rescued! At least I hoped. Lucifer stepped away from the door and sat back down on our bed. "What is it?" I demanded.

"Calm down Mika" He looked at the door warily. "We're getting out of here if they win."

"If who win?!" I hated sounding so much like a child, but I had to know.

"I don't know. They're just coming." He subconsciously put his hand over mine. Our wings brushed up against each other.

"Well, what did they say?" I frowned, not liking how little information I was getting.

"A lot of orders. Uhm," He thought "They said their looking for subjects thirty to thirty-seven. Which you know are us." Twenty-nine children dead or terribly deformed before they could make me. He gave me a smile, but I could tell he was just as nervous as I was. Who knew about us and what did they want with us?

"That's good, isn't it?" My voice held little confidence, the phrase wrung out to carry on the conversation. Then there was silence. I squirmed uncomfortably. Before, the hall resounded with battle, with yells, now it was silent. Had they failed? Were they dead now?

The door to our cell opened. She was a fairly tall woman with short red hair. She was in a blue cotton suit with the button up shirt, tie, everything. "You must be the Angel Project." She gave us a warm smile, but her eyes held business. "Where are my manners? I haven't properly introduced myself. My name is Naomi." She held out a hand but nobody took it.

"You're here to rescue us?" I asked, my posture reaching its fullest. I do that when I'm nervous. I'm always trying to make myself seem tough.

"Oh, but of course. I heard how they were treating you and I just couldn't let that happen." Her sympathy sounded scripted, her face forming something that was supposed to seem sincere. I would have believed it if it wasn't for her rock cold eyes. I shared another glance with Lucifer. We understood each other's thoughts. We would let her take us out, then first chance we got we would fly off like there was no tomorrow.

"The others?" Lucifer asked, standing up, our hands still interlocked. I squeezed his hand to give him confidence.

"They should be fine" She said simply, waiting for me to stand up. I did. "I sent others to retrieve them." She stepped out of our holding cell with the two of us following. "We have to make this quick, they're going to send reinforcements."

Reinforcements, great. This wasn't going to be a walk in the park, but had I expected it to be? We kept up with her as we guessed our way around the labyrinth of the Lab. The structure was called 'Research Lab of Aerobiology and Somatology', which didn't sound as evil as it truly was. In all honesty, most of the people here didn't know what was truly going on. It was just in the 'super-secret underground section' that the experiments were constructed. Anxiety started to build up as I stepped in the elevator. I had the same trapped feeling as I did in the crates. My breath quickened. I didn't know it would feel so great to leave the cursed box.

As we entered upon the first and ground floor of the structure, I felt the eyes of young and old scientists bore into my wings. I looked at the floor. Then my eyes darted to a window; reality washed over me. I hadn't left the lab in, well, forever. My breathing became hard as if I was sucking in sand. What would it be like out there? What would fresh air feel like to my lunges? Was it a harsh world? It was now Lucifer's turn to squeeze my hand. "You boys ready?" Asked the one called Naomi. I nodded.

We stepped out into the sunlight and I laughed maybe a bit hysterically. You can't blame me. This was the first time I'd been out. The first time I'd seen sunlight. I breathed in the air and spread out my wings, feeling the warmth on my feathers. Lucifer did the same. I wouldn't have cared if I died that very moment. I would have been happy.

"We're wasting time." Naomi reminded us, walking over to a helicopter. We couldn't flee yet, not until we regrouped with the others. I didn't see them out yet.

"Where are the others?" I asked, looking around. Maybe I just didn't see them. They had to be out here.

"Don't worry about that." She almost snapped, walking rather fast to the chopper.

"We're not going anywhere unless we know they're safe." Lucifer seemed to have planted his feet into the ground, crossing his arms. I stood by his side. Would a 'yeah' not fit the mood? I decided not to say anything.

"They're fine, I promise you" She sounded uncertain, as if this wasn't part of the plan.

"Can you prove it?" Lucifer wasn't about to leave any family. He was very much the leader, of course behind me. He loved them all like brothers, as we all did. He would especially not leave Gabriel. They were both fourteen and had birthdays in the month of May, so we joked they were twins. They acted like it; they even had the twin bond thing going.

"Don't make me force you into this chopper." She warned, losing patients. Something told me she only intended to take the two of us—the first two successes.

"Don't make me shove your ass into one of the holding cells." He threatened, fists clenching. "I can assure you I am much, _much_ , more powerful than you, so I would suggest you get the others as well."

She swallowed, fists clenching and unclenching. Her dignity was obviously being stepped on. "Very well." She finally said. "Rob, go retrieve the others." One of the men by the chopper walked to the building. "John, go on with him." Another rushed to his side. Lucifer and I watched as the two men disappeared into the building.

About twenty minutes later the men came back with a very angry looking Raphael, a waking up Samandriel, a suspicious Anna, and a confused Cas, but when wasn't he confused? I smiled widely, running over to meet them. Lucifer did the same. "Hey guys." I laughed happily, glad to see them alright.

"Michael?" Raphael's one word had so much meaning. _What the hell is going on?_ She had little room for humor, as she always was down to business. Her dark hair fell onto her shoulders, her blue wings—Yes, her wings were the exception too— folded behind her. She was the only one not enjoying the sun to its fullest.

"We're gunna fly, we're gunna be free" Lucifer said quietly to the others, so that Naomi couldn't hear. "Wait for the que" The others nodded as they eyed the red-headed woman. She gave us all a cold stare.

"Are you willing to cooperate now that we have your friends?" She asked us, tapping a foot with her arms crossed. She didn't seem much better than Alistair right now, and that was saying a lot.

"About that." Said Lucifer, pacing back in forth. He was the barrier between the six other mutants and Naomi.

"What is it?" She sighed, looking at her watch.

"One!" Lucifer shouted running and lifting off. It was our little joke. Never was there a three-two-one, but always just one. It was less suspicious and pissed OCD Raphael off. The rest of us followed suit, though I was the last one off. Being the leader, I wasn't always the front man. I had to make sure the rest of the flock got out safely. I heard a _boom!_ as a gun was fired. It would have got my wing and shoulder if I hadn't moved out of the way fast enough. Luckily for me, we were all fast flyers, except for Gabriel.

Gabriel had three pairs of wings, as something went wrong in the lab when the 'grew' him. He was always a clumsy flyer, never being able to control the mess on his back. Raphael offered to cut them off with a creepy no sympathy, but sadly to her, we all refused. I flew next to said little brother, helping him regain balance. "Are you going to be okay?" I asked him. We were probably about a mile away from the chopper by now, they would likely look for us.

"Fine." Gabriel muttered, hating anybody telling him he couldn't do anything. He was determined in that heart of his that he could do everything ten times better than the world, and I'm sure he could if he put enough time into it. He was just that way.

"Hey, Luce!" I called over to the second-in-command.

"Yeah Michael?" He answered, not bothering to turn around to face me.

"You take the rest up to…" I looked around. "That mountain over there." I pointed to the peak of a snow crested mountain. The fresh air felt so good, flying not in a simulator even better. The view was amazing. "I'll stick with Gabriel and meet you guys up there."

"Sounds good to me." Said Lucifer as he increased his speeds faster than any bird, maybe any plane. The others followed. Gabriel gave me a dark look.

"I can keep up Michael, stop babying me." He crossed his arms. The three pairs of wings clumsily flapping themselves with no apparent order said otherwise. He looked like a drunken dragon.

"Yeah, right." I let out a breath, shaking my head. "It's not always a bad thing to accept help, Gabe. You can't always be good at everything." I hoped he listened this time, but these types of words never seemed to find a place in his heart.

"Whatever." We continued flying in silence in our dreadfully slow pace. This was probably the fastest Gabriel could go, but my wings urged for me to soar, to dip and dive into the wind currents. I wouldn't though, I was a good brother. It took about an hour to reach the rendezvous point and the others already set up camp. We saw them near a cave and the two of us circled, lowering our altitude. Samandriel waved to us.

They had a fire going with a rabbit burning over it. Who had caught a rabbit? Never mind. "Hey guys." I said weakly, hunger burning at my stomach. The smell of meat wasn't helping.

"Hello Michael" Castiel looked up from his seat on a log. The camp looked pretty nice. Enough Log-seats for all of us circled the fire pit. Who knew how to do this? I sat down next to Cas. Lucifer walked over with another rabbit, skinning it with a pocket knife he must have stolen from some sort of lodge. There had to be a camp site in this area of wilderness. I looked away from the scene, the skinned rabbit enough to make me want to go vegetarian.

"Who's hungry?" He smiled at all of us, putting the other rabbit over the fire. It wouldn't feed the seven of us enough to satisfy us, but it was better than nothing. There was an assortment of I's from people. I didn't say anything. Lucifer sat down too. Pretty soon all of us were around the fire, the sun finally setting behind the mountain. The fire illuminated our faces, the light flickering playfully across everything, almost threatening to break free and reign havoc on the dried pine needles.

All of us enjoyed our rabbit. I made sure to give Samandriel and Castiel the most food. I didn't eat very much, the flock was my responsibility, and I would go hungry if I needed to, to keep them afloat. We retreated to the cave as soon as the fire died down, the stone floor not too much less comfortable than the metal slabs. I slept almost instantly, and I soon realized that one of us should have kept watch.


	3. There Better be Seven Bedrooms

I was back at the lab. The smell of chemicals seemed real, but it wasn't real. This was just a dream, some stupid dream that I've been having since forever.

My eyes darted around the walls around me, the walls that were supposed to be white but turned to more of a cream color over the years. I continued walking, because that's what I did every time; I was never good at controlling my dreams. I was more of a watcher than a doer. I heard the footsteps behind me so I took a turn, quickening my pace. Hadn't I already escaped? Why was I dreaming about _this_ , then? The footsteps became louder so I walked faster. The pattern continued until the footsteps seemed to be drums in my ears—no, cannons.

I reached the elevator. Before our escape, I never knew what lie beyond the elevator, but then again, I never got far enough to see. "Leaving so soon?" An all too familiar voice echoed into the empty halls. Every time I had the dream, I held onto some hope that the loud thuds were only my heartbeat. I was wrong, again.

Not being able to control my dream, I was stuck saying the same thing every time. Nothing. I stood there trembling like a stray dog in the rain. I wished, even in my dreams—especially in my dreams—that I could have been stronger. But I wasn't, so I let the dream go on.

"You're so close Michael, why not fight longer?" Alistair taunted, stepping closer. "Go on, press the button." My arms seemed to be glued at my side because I couldn't do what he asked.

"Very well then." He sneered, grabbing my arm harshly and pulling me away from the elevator. I never got the chance to finish my dream, and I was glad.

This time I wasn't woken up by my brother's gentle touch. I was yanked up by my arm by somebody's large, callused hand. They didn't give me the luxury of a slow, groggy wake up. I was pulled out of my dream like a fish out of water. I imagined a squirmed just as much. Aside from the burly guy who had my arm in his grip, the first thing I noticed was my brothers and sisters being tussled out of sleep and a familiar face. "Naomi." I growl-muttered into the open air.

"Did you boys really think you could get away with that?" Wait, didn't she try to rescue us—well, me and Lucifer—a second ago? Why did she have the bad guy vibe? Also, how did she get up here? My eyes caught on the chopper. Go figures.

"Yeah, I suppose I did." Lucifer pulled his arm out of his captors grip, shooting him a deadly look.

"You couldn't catch us once; you won't get us this time." Added a rather pissed off Anna. Her mess of red hair was slung around her shoulders. Her matching red wings pressed up against her back, as if she was trying to keep them away from her captor.

Naomi scoffed, pacing in front of us as we were held in place. Even Lucifer seemed to have gotten back in the hands of some guy. This was my fault; I was the stupid one who hadn't thought to keep watch. I _knew_ they would be after us, I _knew_ that we wouldn't be left alone. "I would rethink that." She took a moment to think. "I'm not the bad guy, I'll have you know. It isn't... safe… for you children to be out here by yourself."

"Is it any safer with you?" I spat at her, yanking my arm away which only lead to a tightened grip.

"Watch it kid" My captor muttered.

"Imagine what would happen if you were found? You'd only be sent to another facility to be dissected." She emphasized the word _dissected_. I saw the truth in her words, but it didn't change how unsettling the situation was. With how much effort she was putting into this, she was likely planning something similar herself.

"I'd take that risk." Gabriel added quietly, crossing his arms. His cold stare was scary; the smirk that matched made the scene terrifying. Like he was plotting all of the terrible things he would do to Naomi.

"Well, that's your issue, not mine." She let out a breath. With a more perky voice, she clasped her hands together. "Now, let's get you kids on the helicopter." Like I'd let that happen.

"How 'bout you just let us go?" Samandriel squeaked. It sounded more question than anything threatening.

"No. I can't do that." She turned to the chopper, stepping on. I didn't like the way she worded it, but I didn't have much time to think on it. I shared glances with the others in the flock; Lucifer started counting down on his free hand. We were being pulled to the copter. Knowing that we all had superior strength to most adult males, when Lucifer finished counting down, all of us, with the force we could muster, kicked, clawed, punched, anything-ed our way out of the grip.

As soon as I got out of my hold, I spun around and jogged a few paces away from any rabid Naomi-minion. Was that a tranquilizing gun? "Guys! Watch out!" I yelled, motioning towards the guy aiming at Lucifer. He dodged the shot just in time, the dart brushing through some feathers on the tip of his white wings. We could flee again, this time flying further away from everything. Yes, we'd do that.

I started to run, my wings extending from my back to lift me up. The others saw this and followed suit. I was about twenty feet in the air when I heard yelling and almost a shrieking noise below me. "No! This ruins everything! How could you all be so idiotic!? I told you to handcuff them!" Naomi began to blame everyone but herself. That's all I heard of the rant, though, because I was already a yard away, doing a headcount. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Where was Gabriel? There he was. Six. Six? I started to freak out, freezing in my place. Where was seven. Where was—idiot. I forgot to include myself. Alright, all seven of us were airborne.

Lucifer was flying next to me; all of us had a slow pace to keep up with Gabriel. "Where to?" I heard him ask, surveying the area. I looked around too. We had taken geography in the 'school', which was a glorified tutor session with an abusive mentor. I thought about the question and no good answer came. Where was the Lab? I had never thought about what country we had been in. Judging by the language, we had a high chance of being in America, England, Canada, or Australia. Judging by the vegetation, I figured it was one of the North American countries. Those were the Rockies; we were defiantly in one of the North American countries.

"East. We should go east." I answered. All of us seemed to have a natural sense of direction. We always knew where each of the directions was. Right now we were heading west west-north. I think part of it was the bird DNA. Okay, I knew _all_ of it was the bird DNA.

"East?" Lucifer asked, turning to east. "What's east."

"Not here, that's what." I sighed; the cold air was terrible for flying. The wind was terrible for flying. The flock saw us change our directions so they did too. Faintly I could hear the _thud, thud, thud_ of the helicopter. "We need to go faster." I yelled, using the wind to life me up higher, thus increasing my speed. Landing would be a bitch. Anything but going higher would be a bitch.

Hours passed before any of us said a word, but all of us had the same thoughts. Samandriel was the only one to put it to words. "We need rest. I'm... I'm so hungry.." He lost some altitude as his flapping became slower. "I mean... Like, now"

We all landed in a forest clearing, stumbling on our feet as we landed. Supply list? No food, no water, no blankets, and no map. Oh, and of course no lighter, unless Lucifer stole one as well. All we had was a pocket knife.

"It's cold" Castiel noted, looking at the snow of the floor. He shuffled his feet, arms crossed on his chest to try to stay warm. I took off my Jacket and handed it to him, which he took gratefully and layered it under his trench-coat. I never heard the story on how he got the thing, but he always had it. Oh, and I know you're concerned about my health, but you don't need to be. Lucifer radiated cold, I radiated heat; I wouldn't need the jacket any time soon. But now you're concerned about Luce? He can't feel a damn thing, I swear.

Samandriel sat down on a dead, fallen tree, his hands helplessly in his pockets. I didn't have an extra jacket for him, but Luce did. "I need food" he croaked. He was so scrawny, flying for hours straight, even with our super-strength, was too much for him.

"I know. Let me look for a town. I'll be right back." I lifted off and circled the area. I had no luck for about a minute. I continued to look, and then I spotted some lights and dove towards the center. I landed behind one of the building, which turned out to be a bakery. I couldn't go in there with the wings, what would I do? I was an idiot, had I expected a stand of food with a sign reading _Welcome Mutants, take some free food!_?

I paced behind the building. There was a trash bin, but there was _no_ way I was going to stoop to that level. I was out of ideas.

My attention turned to some shoppers. They had just walked out of the super-market and were happily putting groceries into their car. I watched them carefully. Just my luck. The pair turned around and headed to the DVD store.

I looked around the deserted parking lot for any other humans, and without seeing any, I sprinted to the car. I'll tell you that stealing was about the last thing I wanted to do, but there was no other choice. Either my moral compass, or my family, I had to choose one and family would mostly always come first. I tried opening the door but it wouldn't open. But…That pair had opened it just fine, right? Why couldn't…It was locked. I muttered a curse before looking for anything to pick the lock with. I read how they did it in books, but I had never tried it before. I found a bobby pin on the floor, but that's about it. A thin stick might work.

I never had the chance to test my lock picking skills. "What the…" I heard from behind me. "An... An Angel?" And then there was a thud. I turned around and saw the lady passed out on the concrete. Had I spooked her? Where was the man? I hated doing this, but I robbed the keys off of her and opened the car. I rummaged through the grocery bags pulling out a loaf of bread, a box of cereal, a large bag of trail mix, and some cookies. It was hard to carry the items, let alone fly with them, but I somehow managed to get back to our temporary camp.

"Got the food." I said, setting the items down.

"Cookies? You're the best!" Gabriel grinned, walking over to grab the box. Oh no he didn't. I stepped in the way.

"Dessert?" I crossed my arms.

"Don't be such a butt Michael" Lucifer joked, joining his 'twin' in their little crusade.

"Let them starve. I'll make sure _I_ get protein." Raphael had somehow managed to open the trail mix without me noticing and plopped a peanut in her mouth. With my attention on my sister, the twins managed to snatch up the box of cookies. They each grabbed a cookie, not four like I expected. I raised them with manners, good.

Anna lead Samandriel over, which they both grabbed the bread. "I call this the cookie sandwich" Anna put a cookie in between two slices of bread before handing it to Samandriel. "Enjoy"

Samandriel eyed it before shrugging, taking a large bite. "It's Good" he murmured, seeming more starving dog than kid. We were all starving. You imagine flying for hours straight.

I took a handful of trail mix and grabbed one peanut at a time, chewing it thoughtfully. I then ate the raisins, then the cashews, and lastly the bright red, yellow, orange, green and blue things. They had an 'm' in a white font. They tasted really good. I grabbed another handful and this time and them first.

We all enjoyed our meal, all agreeing that the 'm' things were probably the highlight, besides the cookies. I didn't have any. A dozen meant twelve, and twelve meant everyone could have two if I sacrificed. It was still light out, spring was just a corner away, but it was a very oppressed light. Puffy clouds covered the sun ad made the sky grey. The wind howled and burned our skins, and then there would be nothing until the wind decided we were too comfortable. It would then come back to show us that we couldn't ever have comfort. We were outcasts, never to be accepted by society. We wouldn't feel security until the Shurley household, but even that was taken from us. I'm getting ahead of myself.

"It's too cold to sleep out here." I was talking to Lucifer by a barren oak tree. "We're going to have to find a shelter." I pronounced 'a' like 'uh'. He nodded, half listening to me as he stripped the bark off of a stick with his knife. I couldn't tell if he was trying to sharper in, or just smoothing the sides.

"I could scout the area. There has to be some unoccupied lodge or house somewhere." He tossed the stick aside. I looked over at the group. Gabriel and Castiel were finishing off the trail mix. Anna was putting her tangled red hair in a loose braid. Samandriel was still sitting on that dead fallen tree and Raphael was watching a woodpecker.

"Yeah, you do that. I'll—"I started.

"Watch the group."

"Right" Lucifer was always finishing our sentences. It got irritating sometimes, but right now wasn't that time. I was too tense, more of a focused tense, to nit-pick educate. Lucifer ran ten feet before he lifted up. He was off in no time. I'm sure a human wouldn't be able to see him at his height, but we had enhanced vision so I could see him the entire time he was up there. I walked back to the group. "How you holding up?" I asked, putting a hand on Samandriel's shoulder. He looked up at me.

"Fine." Sammie smiled.

"Yeah" Said Anna. I guess the others had the same answers because they didn't say anything.

"Lucifer's finding us a shelter." I told them. "Maybe some unused lodge"

"Better be seven bed-roomed." Gabriel mumbled. "Or I better get my own room"

"Better have a shower." Raphael added, her being a germaphobe and all.

"I second those notions." Anna gave Raphael a rather honorable look. Was it that big of a deal? Girls.

"We don't have time to be picky." I reminded them, and hopefully they would listen. "Whatever he finds will be _prefect_ because we won't complain. Right?"

Gabriel groaned. "Yes Mom." If they were being that ancient nickname back, I swear I was gunna skin them alive. I scoffed, shooting him a look of warning.

"Michael's right." Samandriel reminded everyone. He was a good kid. "We're on the run. All we need to a roof."

"Thank you." I muttered sarcastically under my breath. "At least one of them listens."

"Mom, you gunna tie my shoes?" Gabriel stuck a foot out and one of the shoelaces _was_ undone. I glared at him, giving him the bird. He laughed and knelt over to tie his own shoe.

The sun was now setting behind the mountains fully, leaving us in the dark. I should have grabbed a flashlight when I was out, but I had only been thinking about food. The wind howled aggressively, shaking the trees. Some of them groaned, some of them shook, one of them fell. That was a while away, but as well as our sight, our hearing was modified. It wasn't a big difference, unlike vision, but it was enough for us to pick up on more things. It surely allowed us to hear smaller things, details we might need to know.

We shivered in the wind. Some snow was picked up off the ground and thrown at us. I squinted towards the sky. There I made out my brother flying towards us. He stumbled upon his landing. It was just so hard to land in this small area, especially in the wind. "Did you find anything?" I asked. I wanted to add, _we won't go in if it isn't seven_ _bedroom-ed_ _with a hot-tub and walk in shower_ , but I decided it was better not to.

"Yeah, you guys'll like it. It's large, seven bed-roomed." It was a joke, but it still caught me off guard. Was he now a mind-reader? Watch out children of America, your thoughts are currently threatened to be violated.

"Sweet." Gabriel gave me a satisfied smirk. That's what it was. Twin mind reading. Probably not.

"C-c-could we go now?" Samandriel shivered violently, tawny wings wrapped around himself for warmth.

"Course" Smiled Lucifer. He took off, expecting us to follow suit again. I grabbed the remaining bread and the cereal box in case we needed it and followed.

It was about a fifteen minute fly to said house. It was a large three story house with separate wings and a garden that might have looked pretty in spring. Lucifer wasn't going to just go down, he was going to go down in style. At least style meant spacy. It was likely one of some rich person's many vacations homes, so I didn't have too much of a moral issue breaking in. We were on the run, of course. Lucifer opened the door for us and winked at me. "Ladies first." He laughed and I punched his arm.

The inside was less grand. It had homey furniture and books _everywhere._ Scattered on tables, strewn on counter tops, many were piled on the floor. With the many books out of place, there were even more placed on many large book shelves _. So, we have a scholar's house_ , I thought.

"Fireplace!" Samandriel yelled and ran over. "Luci, light it, please."

"This is not our house." Lucifer reminded Sammie. "Look for a room." He instructed everyone. He stayed in the living room with me. There probably wasn't going to be enough rooms so I'd sleep on the couch. Anything beat the beds in the Lab.

We discovered five bedrooms, two of which had two twin sized beds. This was just too perfect. Somethings was up, or something was definitely going to be up. I shared a room with Gabriel, who snores. I didn't get very much sleep at all that night.


	4. Normal is Overratted

**Hey guys. Sorry I couldn't update sooner. I really wanted to update two days ago since I had half the chapter completed, but I got busy. I had to play a show at the long beach convention center right after school and it took two hours to drive over, and then we got home at nine. Band comes first, but none the less, the chapter is here. I hope you guys enjoy it, ti gives a little insight on their past as well as introducing a new concept at the end. No spoils, but there's going to be a lot of new 'types' of characters, not just the Angels. Enough holding you up, here's the story.**

* * *

Eight years ago was when the really bad experiments begun. I still remember the day with an almost movie-like memory; of course I still can't talk about _any_ of the things they did to me. Writing about it is a stretch, but I feel like I have to get it out sooner rather than later. A journal's the best place to start, huh? Why do I write to myself like I'm talking? I'll just stop…

Okay, I was eight. My entire life had been dedicated to the Lab, and frankly, I didn't know anything other than the schedule they had me on. 6:00 was the time I woke up. By 6:05 I was taken out to the waiting room, which was a small room with a table and a lamp, and sat until the doctor was ready to see me. They would run routine checks, make sure I was still living and all. This process took about forty minutes, after which I was taken to my 'school.' I didn't learn normal things like science or history; I learned how to fight, how to fly, and many ancient languages. I hated all of my teachers except for Dr. Milton. I was sent to my cell without dinner if I failed to complete the task, or worse, I was beaten. I got used to the abuse, lost all hope in the world. Then Dr. Milton had begun to show me kindness.

He was new in the lab. He had short scraggly brown hair and a crooked nose. His eyes were a warm brown that were wild, but in a crazy history teacher kind of way. He taught me writing and art. I was surprised that Alistair had let me learn it, but I'd figure out the slip later. Dave Milton saw the good in the world. Every time I'd show him my work he'd look it over with an indifferent expression. It killed me, for minutes it seemed I would lean over and watch his eyes dart over the paper from behind his glasses. He'd then give me a smile and ruffle my hair. "It's good." And that was it; he'd go off and assign me something else to do. It was the kindest gesture any adult had shown me.

After the normal classes, I was sent to Alistair. At first the guys wasn't too bad as psychopaths go, he'd have me hooked up to some sort of brain machine as he studied the electrical movements or whatnot. They didn't teach me about brains in school. He would set me down with a book. It was always an old book; most of them were in Latin.

He'd shock me at moments, sometimes he'd inject me with something, and other times he would let me to play. One time it was different, though, and that day changed everything. I wasn't allowed my breakfast in the morning, nor my normal classes. I liked Dr. Milton, so it was a bit sad for me. I was led to a room I had never been to before, but it seemed oddly familiar, like an image from a dream. Alistair was waiting in there for me, smiling coldly.

"Hello Michael" He said, his hands folded in front of him. I looked down at my feet. My shoulders were slumped and my hands were in my pockets. "Why don't you ever talk to me?" He said a tab bit dramatically. "You used to talk to me all the time, tell me about your studies, your dreams. When did that change?"

Maybe when you started, I don't know, abusing me, testing on me. I squirmed. My mind raced with pressured need to find an answer for Alistair, but it just couldn't seem to find anything suitable to say. Seconds ticked by and my scientist became impatient. "Are you scared of me, Michael?" He asked me, leaning in closer. I looked up for a fleeting second before my eyes darted back to my feet. I had no shoes. I shook my head quickly. "I am a friend, not a foe, remember that." I nodded.

It was silent for a moment, a long agonizing moment. Alistair offered me a seat on a metal chair. I was half surprised when my arms and legs were strapped in place and my torso was leaned back. He strapped the weird brain machine on my head and the monitor nearby started to show images. I tried to move my hands but I was only met by the uncomfortable metal digging into my wrists. "We not comfortable?" he asked me, grabbing some supplies from a cabinet. I tried to look over to see, but I couldn't move enough to get a good view. "It won't take long, my Angel. All you need to do is relax." He turned around and snapped some plastic gloves on. He carried a tray over with various tools. Sharp tools. He gave me a smile as he held up a long needle. "Don't think about passing out on me Michael." He tapped the tip of the shot. "This'll wake you right back up."

I swallowed nervously, desperately trying to inch away, but not being able to. My scientist started fixing up some machine. He then pulled wires from it, suctioning the ends of them to my skin. Some were on my chest, others on my arms and a lot of them on my head. Alistair pressed on a button and instantly I felt searing pain. My blood boiled painfully. All at once my muscles began to contrast; jerking around like a firework was set off inside of me. I felt like I was buzzing everywhere, like I was a ticking bomb. My heart raced at a hundred miles an hour. The few seconds it lasted seemed like hours. Alistair checked the monitor and took a few notes. "Interesting" he said aloud. He looked at me with crazy eyes. "You're not a screamer. What a shame." He pressed the button again.

* * *

All of us hated warm showers except for Lucifer. The water just irritated our wings if the temperature was on too high, and simply, the cold just felt so good. All seven of us were pretty happy campers when we discovered the showers in the house. We didn't have a time limit and it was actually a clean shower. I took a forty-five minute shower, most of which was spent sitting on the floor while the water thundered on my back, on my wings. I dried off and headed down stairs.

Raphael was in the kitchen preparing breakfast for everyone. I had no clue where the others were, but I didn't bother looking. All morning they had been racing up and down the stairs, in and out of the rooms, and getting into everything possible. The freedom was just so new to them; I couldn't blame them. "Do I need to run out and get more food?" I leaned against the counter as Raphael poured the last bowl of bone-dry cereal.

"Later. You've been working too hard, you need some rest too, you know." She gave me a serious look, as if there was no negotiating the matter. I still fought her.

"Yeah, like I didn't get any sleep. I'm fine, Raph, really." Sarcasm was never really my thing, but I always seemed to use it when I was tired. Raphael knew that, but she didn't press it. There was a _ding_ as something in the kitchen went off. Two pieces of bread shot out of a machine as Raphael put them on a plate. She put the last piece of bread in the machine.

"Toast" She said aloud, handing me a slice. I eyed it before shrugging and taking the crisp bread. I chewed the first bite thoughtfully.

"Do you think they're gunna catch us?" I said between bites.

She sighed, looking in the pantry for any food. She pulled out some cans of beverage and set them on the counter. She didn't answer me for a while. "I don't know." She paused, looking out the window at the snow crested floor. There were a couple chipmunks outside skittering up a tree. "They don't know where we are, so I mean, we should be safe. It's just… Hard to tell." She gave me a solemn look.

"I'll keep us safe." I promised her, setting the half-eaten toast down. "We can keep running, they can't catch of if we're not in one spot."

"What if I don't want to keep running? What if I _want_ a home?" This was about as emotional Raphael got, so I was set off guard.

"We're never going to have a home." I didn't realize I had raised my voice; I was simply trying to be honest with her. "Do you think that anyone would let us into society with these?" I gestured to her wings, if she was hurt by my words she didn't show it. "We're _always_ going to have to hide, to run, no matter what we do."

Raphael nodded as she played with the lid of a soda can. She was hurt and I instantly regretted not sugar-coating the situation. "We should get the others for breakfast." She made eye contact with me.

"Right." I said, looking down the expanse of house. They could be anywhere. Luckily, we discovered the intercom in the ultimate cops and robbers game Gabriel had thrown, which I had to decline playing. I pressed the button. "Calling all kids. Breakfast is ready."

A response sounded through the intercom. It was Lucifer. "Not a kid"

"I don't care." Castiel was the first one in because he was in the library reading, which was next to the dining room. There was so much in the house that I was pained knowing we'd have to leave. It was the perfect size for us _and_ it was separated from society. Raphael handed Castiel a bowl of cereal and a piece of toast. I counted the pieces. Only four pieces left which meant—

I spoke in the intercom again. "Last one down doesn't get any toast." I heard a thud, and then loud footsteps. _Gabriel,_ I though and shook my head. "How are you Cas?" I asked the kid. He looked up at me from his food.

"I am good." His voice was so deep for his age, it was scary. That's all he said. It was hard to engage is conversation with Castiel because he was always so literal and only answered what you asked, he never expanded on it.

"That's good. Is breakfast good?" He nodded.

Everyone was sitting at the table before Lucifer walked in. His hair was perfect, outfit clean despite our latest adventure. He had spent all morning on his appearance. I was surprised he was short of a full face of make-up. "Good morning princess." Gabriel smirked at his twin. "You're late to the feast."

"Good morning dick-wad." Lucifer's voice was quiet. He sat down next to me and Anna, looking at his cereal with distaste. "Is there anything else?"

"You would have had toast if you hadn't gotten up so late." Anna, to prove her point, took a large bite out of her bread. I gave him the rest of my toast, which he didn't eat either. Lucifer stood up and headed towards the pantry. I ignored him. It pissed me off how picky he was. All of us grew up in a lab for crying out loud and he was concerned about his food? Lucifer sat down again with a bowl of Ramen.

"How many of those are left?" I asked, stomach growling for _that._

He shrugged. "I don't know; an entire bag."

"Alright, I'll go make that for everyone." Gabriel stood up and left the table, heading to the kitchen. He grabbed six more bowls out of the pantry (The owner of this house was going to hate us) and began preparing the food.

"I saw a ghost." Samamdriel said, looking out the window.

Lucifer laughed lightly. "No such thing." He looked a bit worried though, as if he'd, too, seen a ghost but had too much pride to admit to it.

"But—"

"Lucifer's right." I sighed. "We shouldn't be concerned about—"

There was a growling noise coming from outside. All of our heads turned to the window. I stood up and headed towards the sound, grabbing the closest thing to defend myself. With my luck, it was a butter knife. How menacing. I'm sure whatever creature was out there would laugh when they saw me. There was nothing outside as far as I could tell so I headed to the table. "Probably a wolf or coyote."

"Defiantly a ghost" Gabriel intervened, smirking. "It's going to tear you apart slowly, Sammie. It'll start with your intestine, then—"

"That's enough." Anna snapped. She would have slapped him if he wasn't in the kitchen. Instead, the fiery red head hugged Samandriel.

"I'm not four…" He squirmed.

"It's okay Sam..." She patted his head then detached from the hug. The growl resounded again and she was immediately back on the poor kid. Samandriel wasn't so upset this time though.

Lucifer got up from the table and cleared his bowl. Did the growling not bother him? He was acting so normal, so calm. "How long are we going to stick here Mika?" He asked, turning to face me. Gabriel snickered at the nickname.

"It depends on when they find us." I picked up a book from the table. It was titled _Guide to Pagan Gods._ I set it down again.

"You make is sound like they know where we are." Raphael scoffed.

"It's not too far off." Castiel finally joined the conversation. "They probably put trackers in us and are keeping tabs on us right now"

The room fell dreadfully silent. Castiel was right. Why would we have any hope they didn't put trackers in us? We were their prized creations; they wouldn't want us running off. What did that mean for us? We would have to constantly run, change direction, or find a way to tear the trackers out. They probably already knew where we were. It was only a matter of minutes before we got a knock on the door. I subconsciously began searching my arm for scars, but it was hard to tell what scar was what.

"Cas could be wrong." Gabriel finally said, placing a bowl of ramen in front of everyone. It was a shame none of us were hungry anymore. "I mean, if they knew where we were, wouldn't they have caught us already?"

"Not if we're a game to them." Raphael said with no emotion. "They're playing with their food. They'll lure us into a false sense of security before they—"

"Alright! Alright!" I stood up. "We've talked about this Raph. If you don't have anything constructive to say, don't say it at all."

"I wasn't… Never mind" Raphael was the only one eating the Ramen.

"I'm going to take a walk" Anna stood up, struggling to put on her green hunting jacket. It was about a three minute process to put each wing through the holes we cut in the backs. The only one who had an easy time putting anything on was Cas, whose trench coat was long enough that the holes were no problem putting each wing in.

"Nobody is leaving alone. Gabe, go with her." It was too dangerous. Our little realization about the trackers made me wary; somebody could be out there waiting to catch us. That, and the growling.

Both Gabriel and Anna groaned, glaring at each other. "Not going to happen." He never lessened the intensity of his glower.

"You know what; I don't need to go out." She stiffened and began to head up stairs.

"Wait" I called out. She sighed and gave me a rather pissed off look. "I'm going to assign partners." Not just Gabe and Anna, now everyone had a turn to groan and sigh, or whatever dramatic sound they could muster.

"Michael" Lucifer stiffened as well. "Is that really necessary?"

"Of course. Do we want to draw sticks or…?"

"I call Castiel." Gabriel called out. Castiel looked at Gabe and sighed.

"Alright, Cas and Gabe." I sighed, thinking it over. "Fine. Anna and Samandriel. That leaves Raphael and Lucifer."

Both Lucifer and Raphael gave each other cold looks. "What about you?" Lucifer frowned, crossing his arms.

"Yeah." Anna looked at me, as well; satisfied I was getting busted on something.

"Alright. I see your point. Just… Choose your partner if you're going out and ask my permission before hand." It was better than my previous statement, but still no-one was happy. I didn't care if they were happy. It wasn't my job to ensure their happiness; it was my job to ensure their safety.

"Mika, you're coming out with me to check up on the 'ghost'." Lucifer stood up, and before I had a chance to respond, was out of the room. The jerk. I sighed and followed him, this time grabbing a sharper knife.

I met up with him next to a large oak tree. I was bundled up in my grey shirt and my green jacket. It was funny; he was in a green shirt and a grey jacket. "I don't see anything out here." I said bluntly.

"Well, I know I saw an ugly, mean dog earlier. I'm not taking any chances." He eyed my knife then pulled out his stolen hunting knife.

"Alright, we can look around some" I started on a perimeter check. There was nothing out of place as far as I could tell. The wooden fence wasn't broken in, the birds were singing in the trees, the squirrels played and the chipmunks chased each other up the trees. Then there was the growling followed by a deep bark. The birds flew away as if there was a distant gun shot and the rodents hid up in the trees.

"Here it comes" Lucifer swallowed nervously. He backed up into me so our wings were up against each other. There were dog's prints coming towards us, but no dog.


	5. Bears Don't Hibernate this Winter

The breath was forced out of my lungs as I hit the ground with full force. Lucifer was on top of me after shoving me out of the way of the dog I couldn't see. He regained his composure faster than I did, for he was already on his feet before I had a chance to realize what was going on. The paw prints in the snow were coming up on Lucifer. He leaped in the air and snapped his wings down full force, lifting himself into the sky. Show off. I finally dragged myself out of the snow, backing away from where I saw the dog prints pacing under my brother. I could try to take on Mr. Invisible dog, but I was sure I would get eaten, or I could stand here useless as my brother did the work. I decided I'd go for it.

I pulled out the steak knife I had grabbed on the table before leaving and walked slowly, quietly, towards the invisible dog. Lucifer shot me a look of warning and motioned with his chin for me to back up. I gave him a confused look, but listened. With my luck, I snapped a twig. I heard the dog turn around, growling at me as if he _really_ wanted to play fetch with the stick I had the misfortune of breaking. I saw Lucifer face palm out of the corner of my eye.

Something told me to run and I did exactly that. My wings snapped out, and with as much force as I could muster, I threw my wings down, lifting myself up. My wings carried me up to Lucifer where he gave me a rather irritated look. The dog barked up at us, the paw prints still pacing. "What is that thing!?" I let out heavy breaths, half of it being scared half of it the tiredness from my rather pathetic escape.

"Something that _really_ wants to eat us." He responded, eyeing his knife as if he was thinking what the best way to kill it was. I should have been thinking about that, but I was too concerned about the fact that I was almost a chew toy. "He's ugly" He added, eyeing some point above the prints, as if he was looking at this invisible dog.

"You mean you can see it?" I asked, somewhat surprised. Was he crazy or was I crazy, because I was pretty sure there was nothing there?

"And you can't?" he eyed me as if _I_ was crazy, and hey, maybe I was. I was pretty sure crazy people usually saw things that didn't exist, not the other way around.

"No, I can't. I see the prints though." I squinted at the area the presumed dog was, hoping I might be able to see it if I did so. I didn't, of course, but it was worth a shot. He was pacing again, and then he stopped. About a second later deep imprint rested in the snow. He was jumping at us. Hopefully he couldn't jump this high.

"I've got a better chance at killing him, then." He said, eyeing the dog once more. He was deep in focus, his eyebrows furrowed. "You wait up here."

I was about to protest, but Lucifer was already diving towards the thing. He pulled the knife in front of him and hopefully stabbed him. Yes, there was blood on the floor—unless that was—

Oh god no. Lucifer was clutching a wound on his shoulder, but there was a whimpering. I dove down without thinking, rage boiling inside me. No creature was allowed to hurt Lucifer; I don't care how much it wanted a snack. I pulled out my knife and stabbed the open air above a spot where blood was dripping in the snow. My knife got caught into something, something that was desperately trying to get the knife out. I had hopefully stabbed something vital, but I wasn't sure with my luck. The dog was making a sound that sounded both like growling and yipping. It clawed at my arm and I instantly dropped the knife.

That was when Lucifer came up behind the creature and stabbed it presumably somewhere lethal. There was a dog shaped imprint in the snow and a pool of blood. I panted, one hand on my arm the other by my side. Lucifer pulled the bloody knife out of the invisible creature, turning to look at me. "What part of wait up there don't you understand?"

"I saved your ass, don't pull that crap Luce." Was he really scolding me for coming down? Last I checked the dog was about to get an early lunch when I came in. One little wound on my arm was nothing for him to get so upset about, especially when his shoulder looked a lot worse. I started cutting a piece of jacket off to tend to him.

"I could have handled it myself. Now you're hurt." His voice was less harsh now as he eyed my wound. "You're going to need stitches… Dammit. Why wouldn't you let me protect you?"

"Protect me? What about you!?" I started wrapping the cloth around his shoulder, trying to stop the bleeding. "I'd be surprised if you didn't need stitches. Come on, let's go inside." I grabbed his arm gently and started leading him in. What was more surprising than an invisible dog was that he didn't fight me, that he didn't push on the argument. He let me tend to him; he let me lead him inside. Maybe he finally admitted I was right. I opened the door for the two of us lead Lucifer to the bathroom. None of the others were in the main room; they were probably all upstairs reading or playing cards.

"Alright, sit down." I instructed my brother. He sat down on the lid of the toilet, waiting for me to fix him up. I pulled out hydrogen peroxide, some cotton balls, some string and a sewing needle to stitch him up with. It would be painful, it hurt me even thinking about stitching him up but I had to do it. I poured the hydrogen peroxide on the wound after making sure it was finished bleeding. He flinched, clutching on my hand to distract him from the pain. My hand went numb before he let go. I was in the process of cleaning the wound at that point. It was deep, and not a claw mark like I expected. It was a bite, and there was no way I could stitch that up. There were many deep, but small holes in his shoulder in the shape of the dog's canines. I wanted to look away but I couldn't. I wrapped up the wound again carefully. "You're done." I said, stepping away.

"And now it's your turn" Lucifer looked at me, eyes a bit glazed over from the pain. "Sit"

I did as I was told. Lucifer examined my arm and pulled out everything he needed. He led me over to the sink and set my arm under the faucet, the cold water stung my wound. I dug my fingers from my good hand into my leg. When Lucifer was sure my wound was clean, he turned the water off. "If you had just listened…" he began then poured the Hydrogen Peroxide on the three large lines running up my arm. It stung like a bitch. I muttered a few choice words as my fingers dug deeper into my leg. I'm pretty sure it was going to bruise.

"Like I would let you fight 'em alone" I mumbled to respond to his previous statement. I knew it was rhetorical, but I wanted him to know I would always be there for him even if it jeopardized my safety. Lucifer pulled out the string and needle and my stomach immediately dropped. I was instantly wishing for some anesthetics.

"Now, this isn't going to get rid of the pain, but it will sure dull it." Lucifer mumbled, focused on my arm. I gave him a confused look. My brother put his hand over the wound and there was a dull white light. My arm felt a lot better, as if my arm had been injected with those numbing shots. When I looked, the wounds were still ever present. It wasn't healing, but I was glad he could do it.

"Where did you learn that?" I asked him, still looking at my arm as if it had turned a bright shade of purple. He didn't answer me, he just started pushing and pulling the needle through the first of the cuts. Lucifer was right; it didn't get rid of the pain completely. I started biting my tongue as my arm seemingly burned with every pull of the string. This went for all three of the wounds.

* * *

"So, you're telling me you're able to see ghosts?" Gabriel asked after we explained the story for the third time. The bad part about six siblings is that if you don't have all of them with you, you have to repeat everything a hundred times. Maybe I should just not tell next time.

"It wasn't a ghost." Lucifer sighed, looking over the group of younger teens. "I'm not sure _what_ it was, but it wasn't a ghost. Unless Ghosts can hurt people."

"Maybe they can." Samamdriel looked at my arm for a second before he flinched away. Yeah right Anna, you said it didn't look that bad. "I mean… What do we know about ghosts?"

Nobody answered. I was pretty sure none of us knew anything about ghosts, let alone dog ghost who have an appetite for winged humans. "Alright, let's not dwell on what it is. We need to find out if that was the only one." I was pretty sure none of them took my words to heart, because Gabriel just started on the old conversation.

"Ghost can't die. They're already dead to begin with, so it couldn't have been a ghost." He seemed satisfied with his response, as if he thought himself a Guinness for saying something no one else had thought of.

"Why do I even try?" I mumbled under my breath. Nobody took interest in what I said, but I didn't expect them to. I walked out and started to check around for any signs of rabid dog. I was in the upstairs hall when I heard a voice behind me.

"What is _wrong_ with you?" It was Lucifer. I turned around to face him. He looked mad. Why the hell, though? What did I do this time? "You just stood up and walked out on everyone. We were all waiting for your word."

"Yeah, right. None of you were listening." I crossed my arms. A silence hung over us as he thought.

"You're the leader, or so you say. Get their attention; don't just walk out on them. They're lost without you, despite what they all claim." He frowned, giving me a disapproving look. I hated it when he did that, I hated it when he tried to correct me, but I knew he was right. The issue was whether I would admit that.

"Whatever." Such a mature thing to say, I know, but I was too pissed to be concerned about that. My nerves were fried after the battle, after the stiches. All I wanted was to take a cool bath to calm myself down.

"If you're not going to take responsibility for them, then I will." He didn't wait for an answer, he just headed down stairs.

* * *

We all met up for lunch at Two O'clock. Raphael had made some Ramen since we had some of that left. All of us scarfed it down as if it was our last meal, but maybe it was. "Where were you two for the last hour and a half?" Gabriel asked us, amused look on his face. I never knew why, but Gabriel always seemed to be amused whenever the two of us did anything together, like he knew something we didn't.

"I was cleaning my wings." I said between bites. I finished the noodles and began drinking the broth.

"And you?" He pointed at Lucifer with his spoon.

Lucifer shrugged, still chewing. He swallowed. "Cleaning his wings." Nobody found this strange except Gabriel. I don't get it; I cleaned Gabriel's wings before, why was it such a big deal when it was the two of us? It wasn't like I could have cleaned my own wings. Our arms weren't long enough to reach the fifteen foot wingspan. We had to have other's help.

"Samandriel" Anna scolded. "Clear your bowl" And they call me the mother. I scoffed. Samandriel sighed and cleared his bowl.

"Same goes for you Cas." I added. Cas did the same, but didn't complain about it. The two youngest headed to the library. It was just me, Lucifer, Raphael and Gabriel, for Anna trailed the two like a hawk. Again, she was more of a Mom than I was.

Raphael moved her spoon around in her bowl, seemingly not hungry. "I think the dog was sent by Azazel" She didn't look at any of us when she said this.

"What do you mean?" Gabriel said while chewing. If I hadn't been analyzing the Mom nickname, I would have scolded him.

"What else could it have been?" She set her spoon down and looked at Gabe. "I mean, why else would it bother us?"

"I don't know, maybe we put out a bad frequency." I was hoping, praying, it wasn't Azazel. I had never met the guy, but everything I heard about him made me shudder. The first thing anybody heard about him was his yellow eyes, and that was enough to put me on edge.

"Both could be right." Lucifer said from the kitchen. He wasn't about to get the 'clear the bowl' talk, so he went ahead and did it himself. He sat back down next to me. "If it was Azazel, it wouldn't be trying to kill us, just return us."

"How they hell would a rabid dog know whether to fetch or to kill?" Gabriel asked. "If it was Azazel, he wasn't thinking very much."

"Maybe he wants us dead." Nobody liked what I had to say, as usual. "If we were found, he'd be shut down."

Lucifer thought about this. "He's gotten better with his engineering. Michael's right, he could easily replace us and make the new ones better. We're useless to him at this point."

"I feel so loved." Gabriel said sarcastically.

"All in favor of barricading the house?" Raphael asked.

"I"

"I"

"Taco" We all looked at Gabriel and he shrugged.

* * *

It took us about three hours, but we successfully booby trapped the house. It was included with trip wires, land mines(made from anything we could find in the house and shed), and other goodies on the outside. We didn't want to do anything on the inside, especially with Gabriel running around. We'd be safe inside, at least. Or would we?

I heard shuffling from the front porch, and keys in the door. How did they not get caught in any of the traps? I grabbed Lucifer's hunting knife and headed to the door. Who was entering? God, I hoped it wasn't Alistair or Azazel. The door swung open and there stood a man in a green jacket and blue flannel. He wasn't tall, but he wasn't short. His dark hair was short, his eyes tired. He jumped when he saw me and pulled out an oh-so convenient gun. Knife, Gun, I knew who was going to win this. He was about to pull the trigger when his eyes landed on my wings. "What are ya?" He asked, motioning to my wings with the end of his gun. He looked more suspicious than surprised, which surprised me.

"Why are you here?" I asked, fixing my posture so I didn't seem scared.

"This is my house; I should be asking the same thing of you." I paled. I was desperately hoping we'd have longer, but apparently this dude's winter vacation out of the snow was over. _Palm springs not good enough for you,_ I thought, backing up a bit.

"We'll be right out, if you'd just let us—"

"There's more of you?" he snapped, contemplating whether he should use the gun in his hands. I swallowed nervously. Obviously someone had heard the commotion because I heard footsteps coming down stairs. _Dammit!_ My mind was racing, trying to find some sort of escape. I eyed the room. There was a door to the backyard, but we had put a trip wire there. We were idiots. I sighed in defeat.

"Look. I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to intrude and all, but…" I eyed the door longingly, but the man stood in the way. I'd be able to overpower him if I needed to.

"You're in my house." He reminded me, losing his patients. Lucifer was at my side the next moment, holding a gun. There wasn't a shortage of guns in this house so I wasn't surprised.

"So the Bear's back to his den." Lucifer mumbled as he aimed his gun. He stepped in front of me defensively. The man looked less than amused.

"I'm not here to fight anyone." He said, less irritated this time. He put his gun at his side, realizing we were just a bunch of teens. Mutant teens, but kids none the less. He seemed to know a lot, because what he asked next was nothing short of surprising. "You one of Azazels?"

I didn't know what to say, how to answer. Apparently Lucifer didn't either. I finally responded. "If you mean, do we work for him, then no."

"But did he make you?" He asked us, walking over to a counter and picking up a leather bound note-book. "You one of his?"

I nodded, but realized he couldn't see it. "Y-yeah. How did you—"

"How did I know? I've been trying to catch him for years now. God knows what he'll be doing with a bunch of bird kids." He started taking down notes in the note book, go figures, and read some of the previous ones for reference.

"How do you know Azazel?" Asked Lucifer as he looked over the man's shoulder.

"It's hard to be a hunter and not know." He was mostly engaged in his journal. His answers were mumbled and not well thought of. This was curious. Hunters. Was it some sort of secret society? Perhaps Azazel had taken a hunting trip with some of his buddies and slipped a bit too much information. "How many of you are there?"

I hated giving up my siblings, but I somehow trusted the guy. "Seven."

"Seven? Seems an odd number. It's got to mean something…Seven…Seven." He began thinking, tapping the tip of his pen on the table. I found this a bit amusing. Not everything had some double meaning to it. He finally looked up. "How long have you guys been here?"

"This is the first day. Last night we came in a bit late." Lucifer said, determined to memorize the pages of the notebook, or so it seemed.

"Not long at all." He said as if this explained everything. "I can keep you guys safe. Where are the rest of you?"

"Hiding." I shifted on my feet. He was looking at me, and for some reason it made me nervous. "How do we trust you?"

"I can't force you to, but I can assure you anywhere is safer than with Azazel." He picked up his pen and circled something. "I'm fighting him, remember?"

Lucifer was deep in thought. "Do you know who Naomi is?"

"No, why?"

"It's nothing." He sighed, stepping away from the hunter. "I'm Lucifer." He held out his hand. Why did Lucifer trust him? I surely didn't.

The hunter took his hand. "Calvin." He looked over at me, expecting me to say something. I didn't, I simply stared at him.

"He's Michael." Lucifer said for me. I hated this. Lucifer wasn't being careful at all. He was going to get us all killed one of these days.

"Michael. I had a cousin named Michael." The hunter started to take off his boots. I didn't get how what he said related to any of this. I hated small talk, especially with strangers. _Especially_ with strangers who had held a gun to me not to long ago. I saw Samandriel poking in from behind a wall like a mere cat. He gave me a questioning look and mouthed, _Explain._ I shook my head and motioned for him to leave. My bad luck was on a role, because Calvin noticed. "Come in." He called out and Samandriel listened.

That's it; we were leaving first chance we got. "You know what, Luce, tell everyone to pack up their stuff." Lucifer gave me a questioning look. If it was anyone else, they would have listened, but it was Lucifer.

"Why?" He crossed his arms and planted his feet.

"Because I said—"

"Stop." He sighed. "Don't you dare pull the 'because I said so' crap on me. It's much safer here."

"Kid's got a point." Said Calvin as he started cleaning his gun. Oh, yes, Guns are so safe Lucifer. Especially when this guy, I don't know, pointed one at us. All of my previous trust for the guy washed away as I felt the walls closing in. I hated being around people I didn't know. They were going to hurt me.

"Michael…?" Samandriel asked, looking between the three of us.

"Why don't you up with Anna?" Lucifer suggested, glaring at me when he said this.

"Yeah." I said, gritting my teeth. The thing about us is one second we'd be the closest on the world, willing to throw ourselves off of a cliff for each other. That all changed when we disagreed about something, no matter how small it seemed. Samandriel looked between us once, before turning to head up stairs.

Calvin looked over. "I promise I'll keep you all safe." He sounded convincing, but that didn't change anything.

"You know what, I'll tell them." I started to leave but Lucifer grabbed my arm.

"Where will we run to this time? We have nowhere. It's pointless Michael! Just…" He sighed. "Just give it a chance. For me, Mikey?"

I sighed I defeat, pulling my arm away. "Fine. But he has no say in anything we do." I glared at Calvin.


	6. But He's My Chuck

**This chapter was fun to write, especially with Azazel. I know all of my previous chapters didn't have much of a plot, so this chapter is really where the plot starts to come in. I hope you'll stick around with it even though the group is all over the place. They'll settle down soon, so hopefully we can get to a plot rather than them trying to survive, which is a plot, but you know what I mean. On another topic, I went to the zoo today and saw some Wolfies. Wolf's are always the best because I'm one on the inside.**

Our diner was uncomfortable. Sure, the ribs and potatoes were good, but not the company. Calvin sat at the end of the table like a gargoyle, watching over us with curiosity. Like we were animals in a zoo. None of us said much; the only real sound was our forks. Calvin perked up as he swallowed a bite. "Can you guys fly?" He asked with some sort of fascination. He was no older than twenty-five I was guessing.

"Yes. For hours without getting tired." Castiel answered. _Shut up_ , I thought, clenching my fists. Any information could be used against us.

"Must be great." He said as he took another bite of rib. I wiped my hands on my napkin. I hated finger foods.

"Oh it is." Samandriel said, not even bothering to swallow the food in his mouth as he talked. I cringed. "I'm sure only us and the birds understand." Samandriel thought for a moment. "And the insects and bats." He added less enthusiastically.

"You know, as a kid I always wanted to fly." Calvin was trying to kiss up to us; I wasn't going to fall for it though. "I just wish you guys didn't have to go through whatever it was you had to go through." _Like you understand_ , I thought bitterly.

"We got 'em out." Lucifer piped in, putting a hand on Castiel's shoulder. "Right Michael?"

I dropped my fork, not expecting to be brought into any conversation. I regained my composure. "Uh, Yeah, right." I tried in vain to give a small smile, but I'm pretty sure I still looked pissed. I mean, why were they acting so friendly to him? Lucifer looked at me, concerned.

"You tired?" He asked me, his brows furrowed.

I sighed. "I guess, why?"

He shrugged. "I don't know, you just seem a bit off."

"You guys had a rough couple of days, wouldn't blame you." I wanted to punch Calvin. He seemed too calm, too nice. Was I overreacting? No, of course not. This was my family and I needed to protect them.

"Yeah, with the ghost and all" Again with Gabriel and his big mouth. Calvin perked up, but seemed a bit suspicious.

"What ghost?" He asked, pushing his finished plate away from him.

"Some invisible dog." Anna, too, was joining the can't-shut-up game. I glared at all of them.

"Dammit." Calvin yelled, standing up. "They're sending hellhounds? None of you guys are leaving." He gave us grim looks. "It's not safe." He paused. "Up to bed, all of you."

* * *

I was in some sort of office. The walls were white with a window looking out before the expanse of a city. Cars buzzed below us. My ears picked up on a lot, it was almost too much to handle. Engines, shouting, airplanes, all of which were very new to me. There was a potted plant in the corner, which appeared to be some sort of island or jungle plant. There was a desk in the center, a white one, with a white rolling chair. Seated in the chair was somebody I hoped wasn't who I thought it was.

The man looked in his fifties, thinning hair desperately clutching to his head like fur. His skin was wrinkled slightly and it seemed it was from him smiling, which seemed odd. The most notable thing on him, though, was the pair of yellow eyes that rested on me, watching me with curiosity. A small smile crept on his lips as he unfolded his hands. He motioned to the chair across from him. "Michael, please take a seat." His voice was deep, and calculating, but mostly amused. My stomach tied it's self in knots, I felt like throwing up. Fear ate away at me, I wanted to do anything but sit there with him, and so I remained standing by the door. He frowned, as if he was hurt by my action. "I'm proud of you, Michael. Despite my plans, you've become such a great leader."

I didn't like that, _my plans._ My face remained emotionless, a desperate attempt not to show any fear. If I tried to paint courage on my pace, it would have fought me the entire time. No emotion was the only thing that worked. I had so many questions I wanted to ask, but I knew it would be best to remain silent.

"I mean, even Lucifer somewhat listens, doesn't he?" He sighed when I didn't answer. "You know Michael; I'm not the enemy here. What have I ever done to you?"

I broke what I was trying to keep, the silence on my part. "You tortured us!" I lashed out, but it came out as more of a squeak. I feared for my life. If Alistair was bad, this guy was ten times worse. "Kept us locked up, ran experiments on us." I didn't know when to shut up, did I?

"Torture you?" He thought about my statement. He obviously disagreed. "I was preparing you."

My mouth became rather dry. I was hoping for some water. If I had gotten some, I probably would have drunken it like Chuck, which we'll get to later. Anyway, I didn't like what he was saying. "Wh-What do you mean?"

"Oh come on Michael, I thought you were smarter than that." He said this dramatically, throwing his head back slightly. "Why would I send Alistair to torment you for the sake of amusement? What good would that do me? I'd be seven less of an army."

I tried the handle at that moment. Locked. Dammit. I looked around the room for an escape and accepted my fate as dead. "He was honing your psychic abilities. I thought you would have seen through it Michael, again, I'm disappointed. Lucifer figured it out months ago."

Everything started to click in place. His focus on our psychology, on our brain. The reason he'd been so dead set on me being 'creative' and all of that such. Every dream had a meaning, and he always wanted me to explain every little detail. What was that about Lucifer?

"Lucifer was always supposed to be the leader, you know. I guess this works, too." He looked at me and I shivered. "He tends to get a little reckless, doesn't he? Maybe it'll work out for the best."

"This is a dream." I said aloud, realizing I had just been in the house. Yeah, I know, it shouldn't have taken that long but it did. I feared for my life, I didn't have much of a rational thought process.

"Oh, but it isn't. You're Psychic, remember that kiddo? More powerful than the others. Well, all seven of you are. Again, I'll say I'm quite proud of how you all turned out." Others? What did he mean by others? What had that hunter said? You're 'one' of Azazel's. Alright, so there are more of us. I had to free them, to rescue them. I didn't want anyone in this army of Azazel's.

"Michael." He tried to get my attention. I looked at him. "Tell the others. Start training your psychic abilities and return to me when you know what the hell you're doing."

"What makes you think I'll do anything for you?" I shot at him.

"Oh, I know you will. One of you is seeing me frequently, they said the same thing, and well, it didn't last." He smiled at me almost innocently. I wanted to yell at him, to strangle him, to demand who it was, but I was pulled from the dream.

"Michael." It was Castiel. He had been shaking my arm a second ago and was now standing over my bed. I looked up at him groggily.

"Hmmm?" I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and blinked a few times. He was dressed in his regular attire, not his night wear. He should have been in bed.

"Lucifer. He wants all of us to meet him in the living room." I scowled. I wanted nothing to do with Lucifer after his little episode. He wasn't in charge, I was. I agreed with Azazel on one thing, Lucifer was reckless. Too reckless for my liking sometimes. I sat up, pushing the covers off of me.

"Why?" I finally asked as I got dressed into something more similar to Cas. I didn't bother putting a shirt on, it was just too hard with the wings.

"We're leaving, at least I was told." So, what had changed his mind? I scoffed, stepping out of my room. Castiel trailed behind me like a dog as I stormed down stairs.

Cas 'shhhed' me. "The Hunter's asleep." I sighed and quietly walked down the stairs, nothing to let me anger out with. All five of the others were in the main room. I glared at Lucifer. It was a cruel joke, wasn't it? Wake me up last.

"Look who's finally down." Gabriel said dolefully.

"Yeah, you guys decided to wake me up last. Thanks." I crossed my arms and glared at all of them.

"Uh, no we didn't." Gabriel frowned. "Lucifer couldn't get you up. _I_ couldn't get you up."

"And you weren't concerned?" I fumed. Oh, yeah, it's totally healthy for a person to sleep like the dead. Was Azazel's grip on my dream that powerful? That was an unsettling thought.

"I was." Raphael intervened.

"Nobody asked you." I snapped at her.

"You're too loud." Lucifer reminded us, heading to the door. I scoffed again, holding my jacket under my arms. "Let's just get out of here."

I remembered what I had been so mad at. "What changed your mind?" I was surprised Calvin didn't wake up with my yelling.

Lucifer brought his gaze to me, his face serious and more mature than me at the moment. "Is that what this is about? Your upset I didn't agree with you? We had to be discrete. The guy would have stopped us, you know. Do you think?"

His words stung, and I nodded. _Well, that shut me up,_ I thought, regretting everything I had just done. I was just scared, I suppose, of what had happened with Azazel and I was taking it out on everyone. I looked around the group of familiar faces. Which one of them was two-faced?

"You ready?" Anna asked Samandriel, taking his hand. He nodded. Lucifer did a quick headcount.

"Alright, we all think this is the best choice?" Lucifer asked everyone. I apparently wasn't there for their informational meeting.

"'Course Luce." Gabriel nodded.

"Yeah, we'd be dead in here." Anna said, holding Samandriel against her. I never understood why she was so defensive over him.

"Cas, Raph?" He asked.

Raphael nodded and Cas said yes.

"Alright, then we all agree." He opened the door. I wasn't sure if he had intentionally forgotten to ask me, or he just remembered I wanted to leave to begin with. When he shoved past me on the way out I knew which one it was. Was he the traitor? _Stop it Michael_ , I chided myself, _you won't be able to trust anyone if you're constantly trying to find out who it is._ Maybe that was the point. All of us took off with a tornado of wings and feathers. Lucifer was up ahead; I was in the back making sure nobody fell behind.

"We should head east." I told them all, flying in a bit closer to Lucifer.

"Again, what it east? I think my direction's better" Lucifer said, still flying South-West.

The lab was West. "Are you trying to lead us back there?"

"No, I just don't trust your judgment at the moment." The nerve!

I scowled. "And why is that exactly? I lead us this entire time, what did you do?"

He stopped flying and turned to face me. He looked like he was about to explode, like he was a balloon that had too much air put in and the pressure was reaching the popping point. "What did I do?" It wasn't loud, it wasn't snapping. It was calculating, calm, and full of venom. If you ever got into a fight with someone with a bad temper, you'd know this was scary, like they were going to pull a knife out and slowly break all of your bones while calmly spitting venom. "I made sure we had a home. I defended said home, I saved your ass. Oh, not to mention I was actually there for everyone."

"Are you kidding me? I'm _always_ there for them."

"Is that why you never talk to them in an unprofessional way? What happened to Family, Michael? Does that mean nothing to you? This isn't some sort of Army you're trying to keep alive through a war; these are kids who have barely had any love shown to them. You're not helping that, you know."

I opened and closed my mouth like a fish, not able to say anything. The rest of them had slowly flown out of ear shot. They all hated it when we fought. At the time I wouldn't admit it, but it was very much like a Mom and Dad fighting, the kids feared it more than anything. "We can go East." He finally said, letting out a breath trying to calm down. It wasn't working. I knew he wanted to hurt something, someone.

I nodded, too scared to say anything else.

The rest had regrouped with us and we began to head East, like I had wanted, and Lucifer so generously let happen. We didn't say anything the entire time. The atmosphere was tense, at to add to it, Lucifer clutched his knife so tight that his knuckles were white. I wasn't sure how long we had flown, but I was surprised to see the sun rising from behind some mountains. We needed to stop.

"Where do you suppose we can stay this time?" I asked them all, yawning. I stopped flying forward and lingered on one spot.

"Not some guys house." Gabriel answered. "Perhaps a nice shed or bridge would do us fine." He said this, putting on his best sophisticated face. His voice sounded like he was at a wine tasting, _this one tastes fruity._ Why was everything a joke to him?

"No, I don't think we would be safe there." Castiel obviously didn't catch onto the joke. Lucifer laughed at Cas, not at Gabe.

Anna looked at the area below her. "I could try to find another empty house."

"And that worked so well last time." Raphael sighed.

"Hey!" Gabriel shot up. "I've got it! We could go live at the local zoo!"

"Shut up." Anna glared at him, offended. It was a touchy subject, the engineering on our genes. I mean, we did have the natural sense of direction. Did they hatch us? Never mind.

Samandriel piped in "Our best bet is robbing another house for a night and leaving directly in the morning." This was new, he rarely suggested anything.

"I suppose you're right. Who wants to look for that?" Lucifer asked, crossing his arms. He was less pissed than earlier.

"I guess I will." Raphael answered.

"Alright. Not too flashy this time?" I suggested. There could very well be an alarm system. I began to think as Raphael headed off. I needed to rescue the other Physics. I needed to return to the lab. There was no way any of them would stand for this, so I figured I would get them a nice house and leave, perhaps putting a note down telling them I'd be back. How long would it take anyway? A few days each way? So, the trip would be a week at most.

"What are you thinking about?" Castial asked me. Was he studying my face? Creepy much?

"Uh…Nothing." I shook my head, tired. "Long day."

"It isn't day." Cas let me know.

"Long night." I corrected myself. Didn't he know it was a saying? Apparently not. Castiel nodded, satisfied with my answer. Castiel didn't know about any of this, did he? None of them did except for him, Lucifer, and this apparent traitor, unless they were the same person. It made sense, didn't it? I chided myself again. Lucifer was no more traitor than I was. I mean, both of us knew about Azazel, didn't we? What was that about him being able to see hellhounds?

Perhaps that was the Psychic abilities he was talking about. Then the numbing, too? Was that what that was? I needed to teach them all, it'd be the only way to take down Azazel, wouldn't it be? I could rescue the other Psychics and we could all take down the lab. No, but that's what Azazel wanted. He wanted me to return. That's the only reason he told me about the others. Was I overthinking this?

Raphael returned about half an hour later empty handed. "There's nothing." She said quietly. The sun was already up halfway and the clouds were a pretty shade of pink. "This is the suburbs, everyone here is home." We all sighed.

"I guess the Zoo wasn't such a bad idea." Gabriel shrugged when we all glared at him.

There was no point staying here, was there? "We could keep flying; reach an area better for us."

"We're all tired, Michael." Lucifer said this like I was the biggest villain for suggesting an idea. Did he really need to drag this on? Apparently so.

"I actually agree with Michael on this one." Anna piped in, flying over a bit closer to the conversation. "There's nowhere we're gunna be able to land without being seen."

Raphael nodded. "Maybe a bit further." I'm glad I wasn't the only one being disagreed with today. Lucifer had his turn, so I was a bit smug. I smirked at him for a moment and he returned a glare.

Lucifer frowned. "I still don't think that's a good idea. We should at least rest some."

"Where would we rest?" Raphael asked, and I trusted her because she was the one who went searching. If she had doubts for a secluded place, then there was none.

Lucifer sighed, running a hand through his tangled hair. 'I…I don't know." He slumped his shoulders in defeat.

And so we continued eastward.

* * *

When had Gabriel gotten separated from the rest of the group? Those wings were going to be the death of his, I swear. I muttered some curses as I stopped in my tracks. Did he say he was going off? I didn't remember. "Have any of you seen Gabriel?" My breath was heavy from the sinking of the situation. My stomach dropped a thousand feet, feeling like I had just closed my wings and was falling, but I wasn't falling. My head was racing, my heart was fast, and I was starting to feel like throwing up.

Raphael shook her head. "No… When did he fall behind?" She looked around—we all did—to try to find our missing brother. Lucifer was right, I was a terrible leader. This was my fault; I should have kept a closer eye on everyone.

"We've got to go back." I sighed, running a hand through my hair.

"All of us?" Asked Samandriel, who had sneaked away from Anna in the commotion.

"How'd we find you again? Of course all of us." Lucifer was looking over at the horizon. "Where do we even begin to look?"

Raphael looked focused, her brows were furrowed and her lips were pinched tight. "He's this way" She pointed somewhere west. Her finger landed on a fast-food sign as if he was there, but we all knew he was further away than that.

"How do you know?" Castiel asked, squinting in that direction.

"I just… feel it. It's hard to explain." She sighed. _No it isn't_ , I thought, _it's the psychic stuff._

"Alright, lead the way Raph." She nodded and started to fly at a rather fast pace. We followed with the same enthusiasm, our minds trying not to imagine what could have been of our brother. Had the scientist got him? Perhaps Naomi was dissecting him like a frog. Maybe he'd just taken a trip to the zoo. I shook my head and let out a breath, trying to calm my nerves. I was stressed, go figures, and worrying like crazy.

"The idiot" I heard Anna mumble as she tied her hair back into a pony-tail. I wouldn't say he was an idiot. It wasn't his fault he got three pairs of wings. It wasn't his fault we all didn't notice he fell behind. Well, maybe he _had_ ventured off, but still, we should have been paying closer attention. It was about noon when Raphael stopped in mid-flight.

"He here?" Lucifer asked, looking at the two story house below us. He better not of went inside. Maybe he was in the yard?

Raphael sighed. "I believe so." She started to dive down, her wings tucking in to her side before she threw them out fifteen feet above the ground. She flapped a few times to stay in the air and lowered herself down. We all followed suit, some of us better flyers, some of us not so much. Samandriel landed somewhere in a pile of snow and Castiel had to drag him out.

"Thanks" He muttered, brushing himself off. Castiel nodded a response.

I eyed the back door warily. "So, we knock or something?" I walked on the back porch.

"I guess so." Samandriel said quietly.

"God. This isn't some horror show. Cut the suspense out." Lucifer knocked loudly on the door three times. It was quiet, then we heard some talking from inside. Two voices, but not distinguishable. I heard the door unlock, then it swung open. Gabriel stood there smugly.

"Don't you guys typically knock on the front door? How'd you find me anyway?" Behind him stood another man— an adult in his early thirties. His hair was a mess like he'd neglected brushing it. He looked at us and smiled before giving an awkward wave.

"Who's this?" I eyed him warily and I could tell this made him nervous.

"He's Chuck. Chuck, this is Michael, Lucifer, Raphael, Anna, Castiel, and Sammie."

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you guys, I guess." He laughed nervously and scratched the back of his neck. "Gabriel said a lot about you."

"You ready to leave, Gabriel?" Lucifer asked, not sure what to think about Chuck. He obviously knew nothing about Azazel, he could be a good person to stay with.

"But he's my Chuck." Gabriel crossed his arms stubbornly. Chuck opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but closed it like he couldn't find the words.

"I don't care, you can't keep him." Lucifer joked, but this obviously made the guy more uncomfortable than he already was.

"I already told Gabriel you could stay as long as you needed to." He said, trying to veer the conversation away from the whole _my chuck_ thing.

"Thanks for the offer, but—" I was interrupted by Gabriel

"We'd love to take it." He gave me puppy dog eyes. "We have nowhere else to stay, and plus, he already ordered us some pizza."

So it was settled. The seven of us were staying over at some stranger's house because of pizza.


End file.
